Right-wing Coalition Takes Over Power in Sweden

The Prime Minister of Sweden said Wednesday announced her resignation, as her ruling party was defeated by a loose coalition of right-wing parties.

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Magdalena Andersson said she would step down after her center-left coalition was defeated 176 seats to 173 in Sunday's election, with 99% of votes now counted.

The once-fringe Sweden Democrats now become the country's second-largest political party.

The fringe party emerged from the country's neo-Nazi movement in the 1990s. The party finally admitted this year to having roots in Nazi ideology. Sunday's win is its biggest-ever victory in parliament. It will now form a coalition government with three center-right parties.

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The election campaign focused heavily on anti-immigration and tough-on-crime policies.

The final result is still unofficial, pending a recount, a standard practice in the Scandinavian nation.

Andersson's Social Democrats remain the country's single largest with 30% of the vote.

The election results mark a major shift in the country's political landscape. The other parties initially shunned the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats when they first entered parliament in 2010.

"In parliament, they have a one or two seat advantage. It's a thin majority, but it is a majority," Andersson, who became the country's first female leader when she was elected last year, said during a news conference Wednesday night. She said her resignation would take place Thursday morning.

"The Sweden Democrats have made a fantastic choice. We are happy about that and of course hope that the relationship between the blocs stands above Wednesday's count. Then we are ready to contribute constructively to a change of power and a new start for Sweden," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson wrote on Twitter.